U.S. patent number 10,870,536 [Application Number 16/332,209] was granted by the patent office on 2020-12-22 for automated storage system for transporting load carriers rotated into a travel direct.
This patent grant is currently assigned to KNAPP AG. The grantee listed for this patent is KNAPP AG. Invention is credited to Bernhard Gutl, Johannes Holas, Franz Hornhofer, Franz Mathi, Marc Pendl, Dirk Sieksmeier, Michael Wend.
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United States Patent |
10,870,536 |
Holas , et al. |
December 22, 2020 |
Automated storage system for transporting load carriers rotated
into a travel direct
Abstract
The invention relates to an automated storage system comprising
at least two shelves having storage locations for storing load
carriers comprising articles, wherein the load carriers are
storable in a storage direction in the storage locations, and a
shelve aisle formed by the two shelves, in which a load reception
means comprising a transfer means is movable in a travel direction
in order to store at least one load carrier transported with the
load reception means from the load reception means in the storage
location or to pick up at least one load carrier from the storage
location onto the load reception means during a transfer procedure
with the transfer means, and the transfer means comprises rotation
means in order to rotate the load carrier during the transfer
procedure between the travel direction on the load reception means
and the storage direction in the storage location.
Inventors: |
Holas; Johannes (Stattegg,
AT), Gutl; Bernhard (Kainbach bei Graz,
AT), Hornhofer; Franz (Kainbach, AT),
Pendl; Marc (Feldbach, AT), Wend; Michael
(Bielefeld, DE), Sieksmeier; Dirk (Spenge,
DE), Mathi; Franz (Gleisdorf, AT) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
KNAPP AG |
Hart bei Graz |
N/A |
AT |
|
|
Assignee: |
KNAPP AG (Hart bei Graz,
AT)
|
Family
ID: |
59811027 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/332,209 |
Filed: |
August 18, 2017 |
PCT
Filed: |
August 18, 2017 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/AT2017/060204 |
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: |
March 11, 2019 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO2018/045403 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
March 15, 2018 |
Prior Publication Data
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|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20190210800 A1 |
Jul 11, 2019 |
|
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
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Sep 9, 2016 [AT] |
|
|
A 50798/2016 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65G
1/0457 (20130101); B65G 2201/0229 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65G
1/04 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
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10 2012 215 364 |
|
Apr 2014 |
|
DE |
|
2 781 471 |
|
Sep 2014 |
|
EP |
|
H04 209104 |
|
Jul 1992 |
|
JP |
|
2000 044014 |
|
Feb 2000 |
|
JP |
|
2006 327807 |
|
Dec 2006 |
|
JP |
|
Other References
PCT/AT2017/060204, Dec. 7, 2017, English Translation of
International Search Report and Written Opinion. cited by
applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Logan; Kyle O
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Workman Nydegger
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. An automated storage system comprising: at least two shelves
having storage locations for storing load carriers comprising
articles, wherein the load carriers are storable in a storage
direction in the storage locations, and a shelve aisle formed by
the two shelves, in which a load reception means comprising a
transfer means is movable in a travel direction in order to store
at least one load carrier transported with the load reception means
from the load reception means in the storage location or to pick up
at least one load carrier from the storage location onto the load
reception means during a transfer procedure with the transfer
means, wherein the load reception means is formed for transporting
at least one load carrier in the travel direction, wherein the
transfer means comprises at least one rotation means in order to
rotate the load carrier during the transfer procedure between the
travel direction on the load reception means and the storage
direction in the storage location, and wherein the load carrier is
formed as an adaptor for receiving clothes hangers containing
articles or for receiving bags containing articles, characterized
in that the storage locations are formed as storage bars that form
a transfer path together with the transfer means and an
intermediate storage bar of the load reception means during the
transfer procedure, in order to transfer the adaptors between
storage location and load reception means, wherein the transfer
means comprises at least one bent transfer rail forming the
rotation means in order to rotate the adaptor from the storage
direction to the travel direction.
2. The automated storage system according to claim 1, wherein the
rotation means are formed for rotating the load carriers by
essentially 90 degrees during the transfer procedure.
3. The automated storage system according to claim 1, wherein the
load carrier is selected from the following group: adaptors for
receiving clothes hangers holding articles, adaptors for receiving
bags containing articles, a crate, tray, palette, box, bag; and/or
wherein the load reception means is selected from the following
group: level operation device, shelve operation device.
4. The automated storage system according to claim 1, wherein the
load reception means comprises two opposite transfer rails in order
to form a transfer path from the storage bars of the opposite
shelves arranged along the shelve aisle to the one intermediate
storage bar.
5. The automated storage system according to claim 1, wherein a
switch is provided at the transition between the transfer rail and
the intermediate storage bar, which is formed for switching between
the transfer path, located between storage bar and intermediate
storage bar, and a removal path, located between intermediate
storage bar and a removal bar of the load reception means.
6. The automated storage system according to claim 1, wherein a
switch is provided at the transition between the two opposite
transfer rails and the intermediate storage bar, which is formed
for switching between the transfer path, located between the
storage bars of the opposite storage locations and the intermediate
storage bar, and the removal path, located between the intermediate
storage bar and the removal bar.
7. The automated storage system according to claim 1, wherein a
conveyor is provided in the transfer rail and the intermediate
storage bar for transporting the adaptors during the transfer
procedure.
8. The automated storage system according to claim 1, wherein that
a hanging conveyor system is connected to the shelve aisle in the
storage direction, from which load carriers to be stored in the
shelves are transferable via a storage path from the hanging
conveyor via the transfer rails onto the intermediate storage
bar.
9. The automated storage system according to claim 1, wherein a
vertical conveyor lift is provided at the shelve aisle or in the
shelve aisle or in the shelve, wherein the vertical conveyor lift
comprises a lift intermediate storage bar, onto which load carriers
are movable from the removal bar and/or via the transfer rail from
or onto the intermediate storage bar in order to transport it onto
a different level of the shelve.
10. The automated storage system according to claim 5, wherein a
hanging conveyor system is connected to the shelve aisle in the
travel direction or via a corner element in order to remove load
carriers located on the removal bar from the storage system.
11. The automated storage system according to claim 1, wherein four
or more transfer rails are provided in order to transport load
carriers from neighboring storage locations of opposite shelves
onto the intermediate storage bar without moving the load reception
means.
12. The automated storage system according to claim 6, wherein
selection means coupled with the switch are provided, wherein the
selection means allow the conduction of pre-order picking of load
carriers stored in the storage locations onto the intermediate
storage bar of the load reception means.
13. The automated storage system according to claim 6, wherein the
conveyor comprises a chain conveyor.
Description
The invention relates to an automated storage system comprising at
least two shelves having storage locations for storing load
carriers comprising articles, wherein the load carriers are
storable in a storage direction in the storage locations, and a
shelve aisle formed by the two shelves, in which a load reception
means comprising a transfer means is movable in a travel direction
in order to store at least one load carrier transported with the
load reception means from the load reception means into the storage
location or to pick up at least one load carrier from the storage
location onto the load reception means during a transfer procedure
with the transfer means.
The invention also relates to a method for storing load carriers
comprising articles in storage locations of two shelves forming a
shelve aisle, wherein the load carrier transported in the shelve
aisle by means of a load reception means is stored in one of the
storage locations of the shelve in a storage direction or the load
carrier stored in the storage direction in the storage location is
picked up onto the load reception means during a transfer
procedure.
The document DE 10 2012 215 364 A1 discloses such an automated
storage system for storing articles, such as shirts on clothes
hangers, and of articles contained in conveyor bags. Each of the
clothes hangers or conveyor bags hangs on an adaptor, which forms a
load carrier together with the clothes hanger or conveyor bag and
comprises one or more casters and a lug for hanging the clothes
hanger or the conveyor bag. The adaptors roll in a slightly
inclined profile comprising a slit propelled by gravity or they are
conveyed propelled by a chain conveyor in the profile or a hanging
conveyor system.
The storage system comprises several shelves having shelve levels
arranged on top of one another, in each of which one storage bar
oriented in a storage direction forms a storage location in the
shelves. A number of adaptors with articles can be stored on the
storage bar. Two shelves arranged parallel with each other form a
shelve aisle, in which a shelve operator device is movable as load
reception means in a travel direction along the shelve aisle. The
shelve operator device comprises an intermediate storage bar
arranged horizontally in a storage direction and transfer means to
pick up adaptors with articles from the storage bar onto the
intermediate storage bar during a transfer procedure. However,
intermediate storage bars which are slightly inclined are known
from the state of the art. The adaptors with articles taken up on
the intermediate storage bar may then be moved in the shelve aisle
by means of the load reception means in order to remove the
articles or to store them again from the intermediate storage bar
onto another storage bar in a different storage location during a
further transfer procedure.
It has been shown to be disadvantageous during operation of the
known automatic storage system that the adaptors with articles
storable behind each other or a storage bar in a storage location
are limited in their number due to the length of the intermediate
storage bar of the load reception means and ultimately by the width
of the shelve aisle. Considerations to achieve a higher storage
density of articles in this known storage system have shown that
the storage depth of the shelves, i.e. the length of the storage
bars, may only be increased if the width of the shelve aisle is
increased at the same time, which in turn has a disadvantageous
effect on the storage density. If the storage depth of the shelves
is increased without increasing the width of the shelve aisle, then
this will have the result that only part of the adaptors with
articles stored on the storage bar fit onto the intermediate
storage bars, so that the load reception means has to travel
several times in the shelve aisle in order to transport the
adaptors with articles from a storage location, which is also
disadvantageous.
The task of the invention is to provide an automatic storage system
and a method for storing load carriers comprising articles that
achieve a storage density as high as possible without increasing
the number of travels of the load reception means in the shelve
aisle. According to the invention, this task is solved in an
automatic storage system by forming the load reception means for
transporting at least one load carrier in the travel direction and
by the transfer means having rotation means in order to rotate the
load carrier during the transfer procedure between the travel
direction on the load reception means and the storage direction in
the storage location.
According to the invention, this task is solved in a method for
storing load carriers comprising articles by rotating the load
carrier during the transfer procedure between the storage direction
and the travel direction along the shelve aisle and transporting it
in travel direction.
This provides the advantage that the load carrier is rotated during
the transfer procedure and then transferred onto the intermediate
storage bar arranged in travel direction. Since the intermediate
storage bar may be much longer in the longitudinal direction of the
shelve aisle than the width of the shelve aisle, a significantly
higher number of load carriers may be simultaneously moved during
one trip of the load reception means. Thus, the number of trips of
the load reception means may be reduced. Particularly
advantageously the ratio of the storage surface, which is
proportional to the length of the storage bars, to the transfer
surface, which is given by the surfaces of the shelve aisles, may
be improved significantly, so that a higher storage density may be
achieved in the inventive storage system. These advantages are also
achieved in a storage system with crates, trays, boxes or pallets
as load carriers.
These and further advantageous embodiments of the inventive
automated storage system and the inventive method are described in
more detail referring to the figures.
FIG. 1 shows an automated storage system for hanging goods in a
side view.
FIG. 2 shows a part of the storage system according to FIG. 1 in a
plan view.
FIG. 3 shows a part of the storage system according to FIG. 2 in an
oblique view.
FIG. 4 shows an automated storage system with a load reception
means with four transfer paths.
FIG. 5 shows an automated storage system for articles stored in
crates as load carrier in a plan view.
FIG. 1 shows a section of an automated storage system 1 with two
shelves 2 having two levels on top of each other. Each shelve 2 is
provided with storage locations for storing articles. The articles
are, on the one hand, hanging goods, such as shirts or pants hanged
on clothes hangers, and on the other hand any articles received
separately or together with other articles in conveyor bags. The
clothes hangers and the conveyor bags hang on adaptors 3, which are
known to a skilled person e.g. from DE 10 2012 215 364 A1, and
together form load carriers 4 for carrying the articles.
Every storage location is formed by a storage bar 5 arranged in a
storage direction 6, on which or in which the adaptors 3 are
movable with their two casters along the storage bar 5 in the
storage direction and storable in the storage locations in the
storage direction 6. Between any two shelves 2 a shelve aisle 7 is
formed, in which a load reception means formed by a level operator
device 8 is arranged movably in a travel direction 9 along the
shelve aisle 7 on rails 10.
The level operation device 8 comprises two opposite transfer rails
11 in order to form a transfer path from the storage bars 5 of the
opposite shelves 2 arranged along shelve aisle 7 to an intermediate
storage bar 12. The transfer rails 11 and the intermediate storage
bar 12 comprise a chain conveyor 13 to transport the adaptor 3 and
hereby form transfer means 20. During a transfer procedure, the
transfer means 20 moves one or more load carriers 4 transported by
the level operation device 8 from the level operation device 8 to
the storage bar 5 and one or more load carries 4 are received from
the storage bar 5 onto the intermediate storage bar 12 of the level
operation device 8. The storage bars 5 are, for example, inclined
by 1 to 5 degrees towards the shelve aisle 7 so that the load
carrier 5 on the adaptors 3 roll, propelled by gravity, from the
storage bar 5 towards the level operation device 8. A locking unit
at the end of the storage bars 5 facing the shelve aisle 7 avoids
that the load carrier 4 rolls off the storage bar 5 when the level
operation device 8 is not positioned at the storage bar 5. By
unlocking the locking unit, the transfer path for the transfer
procedure is cleared.
The level operation device 8 is now formed for transporting the
load carrier 4 in the travel direction 9. In order to allow this,
the level operation device 8 comprises rotation means, which
according to this first exemplary embodiment of the invention are
formed by the bent transfer rails 11. By means of the transfer
rails 11, the load carriers 4 are rotated during the transfer
procedure between the travel direction 9 on the level operation
device 8 and the storage direction 6 on the storage bar 5. This
leads to the advantage that the number of load carriers 4 that may
be transported by means of the level operation device 8 is not
limited by the width of the shelve aisle 7. The intermediate
storage bar 12 may have the same length as the storage bar 5, so
that all load carriers 4 stored on a storage bar 5 may be stored or
removed with only one trip of the level operation device. However,
the intermediate storage bar 12 may also be longer than the storage
bar 5 in order to be able to transport even more storage carriers 4
during each trip of the level operation device 8. Thus, with only
one trip of the level operation device 8 through the shelve aisle
7, load carriers 4 from a plurality of storage bars 5 from this
shelve level may be received on the intermediate storage bar 12 or
also presorted into storage locations intended therefor for later
use.
In addition, the level operation device 8 comprises a switch 14 at
the transition between the two opposite transfer rails 11 and the
intermediate storage bar 12, which is formed for switching between
the transfer path, located between the storage bars 5 of the
opposite storage locations and the intermediate storage bar 12, and
a removal path, located between the intermediate storage bar 12 and
a removal bar 15. Load carriers 4 may first be transferred from a
storage bar 5 onto the intermediate storage bar 12 via the transfer
path and, after changing the switch 14 by means of a control, from
the intermediate storage bar 12 onto the removal bar 15. The
removal bar 15 is inclined downwards starting from the switch 15,
for example by 1 to 5 degrees, in order to let the load carriers 4
with their adaptors 3 roll to the end of the removal bar 15. When
the level operation device 8 travels to the end of the shelve aisle
7, the removal bar 15 is coupled to a hanging conveyor system not
shown in the figures, which is connected to the shelve aisle 7 in
the travel direction 9, in order to remove load carriers 4 located
on the removal bar 15 from the storage system 1. Such a hanging
conveyor system is known to the skilled person and formed to also
transport the load carriers 4 over inclinations of 45 degrees and
more up and down to a packing location.
In addition, the storage system 1 comprises a hanging conveyor
system, not shown in the figures, connected to the shelve aisle 7,
which is in the storage direction 6 parallel with the last storage
bar 5 arranged at the end of shelve 2. At a goods entrance, the
articles intended to be stored in the storage system 1 are hanged
onto the hanging conveyor by means of a clothes hanger or a
conveyor bag and transported to the shelve aisle 7, from where the
load carriers 4 are to be stored in one of the shelves 2 by means
of the level operation device 8. The load carrier 4 to be stored in
a respective shelve 2 is then transferred via a storage path from
the hanging conveyor via the transfer rail 11 onto the intermediate
storage bar 12. It is particularly advantageous that the load
carrier 4 positioned on the removal bar 15 can be simultaneously
transferred to the hanging conveyor, while other load carriers 4
are transferred from the hanging conveyor to the intermediate
storage bar 12 for storage via the storage path. This allows
accelerating the removal and storage procedure.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in
FIG. 4, four transfer rails 11 are provided on a level operation
device 16 in order to transport load carriers 4 from neighboring
storage locations of opposite shelves 2 onto the intermediate
storage bar 12 without moving the level operation device 16. This
allows further accelerating the removal and storage procedure. Load
reception means with six or eight transfer rails are also
implementable in order to simultaneously remove or store load
carriers in three or four neighboring storage locations of opposite
shelves without having to move the load reception means. Such an
exemplary embodiment would be especially advantageous in the
e-commerce field.
In the level operation devices 8 and 16, the switches 14 are
coupled to selection means at the transfer rails 11. The selection
means are formed by an RFID reader reading RFID tags in each of the
adaptors 3. In a database of the storage administration computer,
serial numbers of the FRID tags of the adaptors 3 are saved
together with the article designation of the articles in the
respective load carrier 4 during storage. This allows the selecting
means, controlled by the storage administration computer, to
conduct pre-order picking of the load carriers 4 during removal
from the storage locations and to already collect load carriers 4
assigned to one customer order behind each other on the
intermediate storage bar 12 of the level operation device 4 from
several storage locations of the shelve 2. The load carriers 4 from
several levels of shelve 2 transferred to the hanging conveyor
system behind each other on the removal bar 15 for a customer order
may then be brought together at the packing location by the hanging
conveyor system, so that the inventive automated storage system 1
does not require conventional order-picking locations. In addition,
transferring the load carriers 4 from the intermediate storage bar
12 to the storage bars 5 may, controlled by the storage
administration computer, be conducted selectively by means of the
switch 14 coupled by the selecting means, so that several different
articles in load carriers 4 may be stored on one single storage bar
5. Consequently, the storage system 1 does not need to store the
articles sorted by type, which is advantageous because storage
locations can be used much more efficiently.
FIG. 5 shows an automated storage system 17 for articles stored in
crates as load carriers 4 in a plan view. Shelves 18 have double
depth in order to allow storage of smaller and bigger crates. A
shelve operation device 19 comprises rotation means for rotating
the crates during removal from the shelves 18 from the storage
direction 6 by 90 degrees to the transport direction 9. The
rotation means may be formed by a rotary plate or gripper arms.
Also according to this exemplary embodiment of the invention, the
advantage is achieved that the shelve aisle can be chosen smaller
than the shelve depth.
It may be mentioned that the inventive transfer means may be
provided on a level operation device operating only one shelve
level or on a shelve operation device operating several shelve
levels. The transfer rails may be formed by comparable technical
means.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the
storage direction has an angle with regard to the travel direction
of the load reception means other than 90 degrees. The storage bars
or storage locations can, for example, be arranged at 75 degrees
with regard to the travel direction.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the
articles are stored in shelves directly on pallets or trays. This
exemplary embodiment also comprises rotating the palette or tray
during the transfer procedure.
It may be mentioned that the adaptor may be formed with or without
casters.
Furthermore, in may be mentioned that the term "rotate" within the
scope of the disclosure of the present document is equivalent with
"orient". The rotation means or orientation means rotate or orient
the load carrier either in the travel direction on the load
reception means or in the storage direction in the storage
location. Consequently, rotation of the load carriers, i.e.
reorientation of the load carriers, around several axes is also
possible during the transfer procedure.
* * * * *